Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Daughters and Left-Wind Voting

What determines human beings' political preferences? Using nationally representative longitudinal data, we show that having daughters makes people more likely to vote for left-wing parties. Having sons leads people to favor right-wing parties. The paper checks that our result is not an artifact of family stopping rules, discusses the predictions from a simple economic model, and tests for possible ...

Patterns of Labour Market Exit in Germany and the UK

This study gives an overview of the pathways from work to retirement in Britain and Germany. Although the institutional incentives differ considerably, both countries face a trend towards early retirement. In Germany, this development was mostly attributed to the favourable conditions in the social security system. In the UK, the increasing coverage of occupational and private pensions seems to be ...

Ungleichheit: Auch Sorgen haben Konjunktur

Eine wachsende Kluft zwischen Arm und Reich bremst das Wirtschaftswachstum, warnen Internationaler Währungsfonds, OECD und jetzt auch DIW-Präsident Fratzscher, der Deutschland zudem attestiert, ein besonders ungleiches Land zu sein. Tatsächlich aber sind die Einkommensunterschiede in der Bundesrepublik deutlich geringer als in vielen anderen Industrieländern.

Recasting Safety Nets - Reforming Social Assistance in Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom

Cross-National Microsimulation Modelling - Reforming Social Assistance in Three European Countries

Integrating Output in EUROMOD: An Assessment of the Sensitivity of Multi-Country Microsimulation Results

Wage Decompositions Using Panel Data Sample Selection Correction

This paper analyzes wage decomposition methodology in the context of panel data sample selection embedded in a correlated random effects setting. Identification issues unique to panel data are examined for their implications for wage decompositions. As an empirical example, we apply our methodology to German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) data with which we investigate gender wage differentials in the ...

Educational choice and risk preferences: How important is relative vs. individual risk preference?

The primary goal of this article is to examine the influence of relative vs. individual risk preference in educational choice. To do so, we discuss relative risk preference in prospect theory and in sociological models of educational choice and debate the notable but widely neglected importance of individual risk preferences for educational plans and decisions. We analyze these different forms of risk ...

The Regional Distribution and Correlates of an Entrepreneurship-Prone Personality Profile in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom: A Socioecological Perspective

In recent years the topic of entrepreneurship has become a major focus in the social sciences, with renewed interest in the links between personality and entrepreneurship. Taking a socioecological perspective to psychology, which emphasizes the role of social habitats and their interactions with mind and behavior, we investigated regional variation in and correlates of an entrepreneurship-prone Big ...

Personality and the Gender Gap in Self-Employment: A Multi-Nation Study

What role does personality play in the pervasive gender gap in entrepreneurship across the globe? This two-study analysis focuses on self-employment in the working population and underlying gender differences in personality characteristics, thereby considering both single trait dimensions as well as a holistic, configural personality approach. Applying the five-factor model of personality, Study 1, ...